The High Cost of Living
by LeonaWriter
Summary: Two short introspective ficlets from the points of view of two very different characters, on a similar subject.  No pairings.  Rated for implied violence.
1. Life and Soul

Life and Soul

...

Hours later, Bakura leaned back against hard rock, finally feeling the sensation of the wind against his face after escaping the tomb he had not all that long ago robbed of the very cloak he was wearing, and, more recently, the golden Millennium Item he now wore around his neck.

He had caught himself several times now, thinking how easy it would be to get the others now that he had even just one. Trying not to retch as he remembered unwillingly how exactly the metal had been forged, the price the power had cost.

He took a hold of it, looking it in the Horus eye, and growled. He could not let the past and his emotions control his revenge. He would not let himself be weakened by them. He could not let himself hesitate.

He would seal those feelings that could cripple him in his direst need away, with a small piece of his distilled hatred, and he would destroy those that he had sought to destroy, but also everything that they even stood for.

Because life hadn't been perfect in Kul Elna, but it had been life. His family had not been rich, or the best thieves that there were, but they had been his family. His friends had not always stood up for him, and not everyone had been a good person, let alone nice – but they had been his. They had been his, and everything that had been his had been taken away from him.

So now, after all this time, he had the strength, and he had the power, and he would take everything that was theirs away from them.

The Ring glowed softly, pulsing once, and then dimming, unnoticed.

...

AN: A short thing. I always think that a part of him survived, so maybe this was how. Could go for original or Memory Game World.


	2. The High Cost of Living

Cost

...

Tristan Taylor had always wanted to be a knight in shining armour. It was a sort of irony that this desire had resulted in his becoming one of Domino High's bullies for a time. He had wanted to fight, but had ended up being disappointed, knowing that real life was not the same as the fairy tales his parents had told them when they were little, where there was always something good and noble to fight for, and the knight always won. Real life wasn't even the same as the history books, where you could be up against a hundred men, and you'd still win, because you were the one who was supposed to, and you were the good guy.

He grew up, eventually, but he never lost his memories or how they made him feel. When Mutou Yugi called him and Jonouchi his friends, he started to think that maybe, just maybe, he had been looking at it all in the wrong way.

Now, he was running for his life with the soulless body of the kid who'd once tried to kill his one of his best friends on his back and running beside him was someone who had once tried to kill not only his entire close-knit group of friends, but also himself. It was always different when you were being targeted as well.

But this time, they were on the same side. Hopefully. Maybe. If only for the moment, at least – he could use that.

Teetering between a drop sharp enough, deep enough and with enough jutting protrusions to maul him before he even reached the ground and a small amount of stone path, a hand caught him, angrily hefting him back to safety.

For a moment he was allowed to wonder, his mind going in strange circles of _I was about to die_ and _he saved me, why did he save me_ backed up with a good amount of _they're still there, still coming for us_ and _we've got what they want. They're going to kill us_. He'd do anything, just to know that he was going to get out of this one with his skin in tact, and Mokuba's, and Bakura's.

When he finally had the chance to think about what had happened, think properly, he found himself close to being sick. Those had been real people, with real lives, and in just a few seconds, they were gone.

But then again, this was real life. Sometimes people were really nice guys underneath, and sometimes they weren't. Sometimes you got a chance to save someone whether they deserved it or not, and sometimes you didn't.

So what if the good guys won? The bad guys were still guys, when push came to shove. And Tristan would be damned if he didn't remember that, from then on more than ever before.

...

AN: Dub names for anime canon. I personally like the anime version of these events best, weirdly enough, mostly because of the summoning (Man-Eater Bug! I has one!) and the rescuing. And, of course, you actually see everything that happens.

I think more people should look into Tristan/Honda's character. If nothing else? He's someone who _does not duel_ or play card games on a show _about_ card games. He even lost the one serious time he did play (anime filler arc). But – he is just as much, if not _more_ of a character for it.


End file.
